LIVE-BLOGGING Thursday PM: I just heard from a source attending tonight’s Writers Guild Of America general membership meeting that the exact timing of the writers strike will be decided tomorrow, then announced in the afternoon. The thought was the labor action would begin early Monday morning when writers could turn out en masse for the TV cameras and set up picket lines which the Teamsters wouldn’t cross, causing headaches for production at the studios and networks. In response, the producers’ rep Nick Counter said, “By the WGA leadership’s actions at the bargaining table, we are not surprised by tonight’s recommendation. We are ready to meet and are prepared to close this contract this weekend.” But earlier in the day, Counter had claimed that, “due to overriding business reasons, no further progress can be made”.

The Screen Actors Guild will be joining the WGA picket lines, and the writers guild said SAG has stayed in the background of all the negotiations. The actors’ contract with AMPTP doesn’t expire until June 2008, so SAG’s president told the WGA members tonight that the actors guild cannot strike now but supports the WGA “100%” and will walk the picket lines with the writers. Meanwhile, the meeting heard from the guild leadership that the Teamsters are getting threats from studios (no proof was offered) after Leo Reed’s “Hollywood” Local 399 — aka the Motion Picture and Theatrical Trade Teamsters which reps over 4,800 studio drivers, casting directors and location managers — urged members to honor the WGA’s picket lines. I’m told a statement from the current General President of the Teamsters (not just local 399, but all of the Teamsters) was read with copies posted on the doors. It specifically stated the Teamsters support for the WGA and that individual members have the right, through the
“conscience clause” in the Teamsters contract, not to cross the WGA’s picket lines.

The WGA leadership said tonight it waited until the writers contract expired at midnight on October 31st to see if the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers prez Nick Counter came up with a last-minute (and expected low-ball) offer — but he didn’t. So now the Hollywood writers walkout is a reality. The WGA leadership gave final authorization for a strike and will email all 12,000 members tomorrow afternoon the exact date and time that labor action will begin. Tomorrow, the WGA West & East board decides when is the most opportune moment for the walkout.

Tonight’s WGA meeting inside the Los Angeles Convention Center was attended by thousands of guild members. (Variety put the figure at 2,000 first, then upped it to 3,000 out of WGAW’s 7,700 members; my sources say more were there than that.) Every seat was full, and scores more people were standing. The confab was, in a word, packed. Not only did everyone show up right on time, but by 7:30 pm the meeting was in full swing. WGAW president Patric Verrone and company got a 5-minute standing ovation when they entered. Attendees counted more than 20 standing ovations during the meeting, with more applause breaks than anyone could keep track of as well as a steady stream of clapping as WGA Negotiating Committee toppers John Bowman spoke first, saying, “If there’s a strike, it’s because eight CEO’s want one,” referring to the moguls who run Hollywood and Big Media. Cheers and applause rose from the crowd when the WGA’s negotiating committee’s Dave Young announced its recommendation to strike.

There were also big laughs, a huge gasp, and even one round of boos all aimed at the producers. This Guild leadership is often described as hardline, but tonight’s membership at the meeting appeared even more hardline than their leaders. (Of course, anyone willing to trek down to the downtown LA Convention Center in rush-hour traffic must be a militant.) When one of the Guild leaders talked about some of the concessions they made during the bargaining in order to try to jumpstart the talks, there was dead silence. Then palpable anger from the audience. “Take those things back,” and “Don’t give them anything!” was shouted by individual members, followed by bursts of applause.

Friday morning, the WGA issued this statement: “Thursday night, nearly 3,000 WGA members packed the LA Convention Center. At this meeting, the largest membership meeting in Guild history, writers heard the WGA Negotiating Committee’s report on the status of negotiations. The Negotiating Committee reported that the AMPTP had called a halt to negotiations by demanding we accept the extension of the current DVD formula to new media. They also reported that in three months of negotiations, the AMPTP has not responded in any serious manner to our initial proposals. The Negotiating Committee then announced its unanimous recommendation that the WGAW Board and the WGAE Council call a strike. Members spent three hours in frank discussion of the Negotiating Committee’s report and recommendation. The membership expressed their anger at the Companies’ refusal to bargain seriously, and voiced their overwhelming support for the Negotiating Committee, Guild leadership, and for the bargaining agenda of the WGA. The WGAW Board and the WGAE Council will meet Friday to consider the recommendation of the Negotiating Committee and to decide the next steps. The decision of the Board and Council whether and when to strike will be communicated to the membership by e-mail and through the Captains system, and will be posted on the WGAW and WGAE websites.”

EARLIER TONIGHT: Not even Writers Guild Of America bigwigs are sure exactly when the writers walkout will begin. But all will be explained at tonight’s general meeting at 7 pm inside the Los Angeles Convention Center. (Could they have chosen a more lousy location?) One top WGA source speculates to me that picketing will start as soon as a strike is called, and that could be as early as tomorrow. (But wouldn’t they want to wait until Monday when writers can turn out en masse for the TV cameras?)

Just now, the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers President Nick Counter issued this very negative end-of-day statement (continuing to refer to DVD residuals when what he really means is electronic sell-through residuals): “Due to overriding business reasons, no further progress can be made because of the WGA’s continuing efforts to substantially increase the DVD formula. We are ready to meet at any time and remain committed to reaching a fair and reasonable deal that keeps the industry working, but the DVD issue is a roadblock to these negotiations.”

Tonight, a member of the WGA’s new Communications Committee blogs where the guild stands on the issues:

”What’s the biggest issue? Internet and New Media

What are we asking for in Internet and New Media? Two things: 1. Residuals for reuse of content (like replaying tv shows) on the internet. We’re asking for residuals of 2.5% of revenue — that means for every dollar they get paid, we’d get 2 and a half cents. It’s a flat percentage, so if they’re right and they’re never ever going to make a penny, well then, we won’t either. No harm, no foul. Since 2.5% is our starting point, in any normal negotiation we’d end up somewhere between what they want to pay (.3%) and what we’re asking for (2.5%). I’d guess 1 to 1.5 %. 2. Coverage and protections for original content (new stuff we create for the internet.) We’re asking for basic protections so that when we write original stuff for the internet, we have rights — health and pension, minimum amounts, credits and separated rights (so if we make some amazing character or show, we get the right to share in its success.) We’re just asking for the same protections we already have for writing in TV or film. Nothing new or weird. Just the basics.

What are the other issues? DVDs: Currently we get .3% per dvd, we’re asking for .6%. Translation: now we get 4 cents per dvd. We are asking for 8 cents per dvd. Since most DVD’s cost at least 10 bucks, that doesn’t exactly seem like a bank-breaker. Whatever. Enforcement of Coverage: There are lots of shows, like game shows, documentaries and talk shows, where writing is supposed to be covered under our contract. The companies sometimes just ignore the contract — which means folks don’t get health and pension, and if they ask for it, they get fired. We want them to stop that, and honor the contract they signed. Expansion of Coverage: We want to cover stuff where writers are working without coverage, which means without health and pension and other protections. The two big areas are animation and reality. We think those writers should be covered.

You don’t actually think you’ll get all that, do you? Personally? I think in a perfect world, negotiation involves, well, negotiating. That’s give-and-take, where we get some of what we want and they get some of what they want. So far, they just keep showing up at the table with more and more things they’re saying they’re going to take away — rollbacks on health and pension, gutting of separated rights, that kind of thing.

But they gave back those resid-whatever-thingums, right? Sort of. They took that one rollback off the table — but since they’re not moving on “digital delivery”, and since pretty much all content is going to be digitally delivered in the coming years, well… we’ll lose those residuals as soon as that happens. So without internet coverage, it doesn’t mean much.”

60 Comments

Schmuck w/o Underwood • on Nov 1, 2007 5:11 pm

Hey, who wants to go out for a drink after the big meeting?

Pen Boy • on Nov 1, 2007 5:25 pm

22 years ago Nick and the studios asked for a good faith deal to test out new home video technologies, the agreement being that the residuals would be increased after a trial period but of course that never happened. Nick is continuing to break a 22-year-old promise and there’ll be no deal as long as he represents the AMPTP. If the studios and nets are serious about making a deal then the CEOs themselves will step in to stop what will otherwise be a long Counter Strike.

firebfireboyoyFireboy • on Nov 1, 2007 5:27 pm

“We are ready to meet at any time…as long as you are willing to stop asking for what you want.”

A canny negotiating ploy.

Well played, sir!

Agentatanotheragency • on Nov 1, 2007 6:08 pm

What most are failing to realize here is that this isn’t Counter’s strike…the studios and networks WANT THIS STRIKE for several reasons…reducing overhead…getting rid of bad deals…the fact that studios have enough inventory to keep the biz going until 2009 and possibly beyond, makes this a bad, bad future for writers and everyone involved with the industry that doesn’t have the backing of a big conglomerate behind them.

Another thing the writers fail to realize is that the strike in 1988 ended not with the producers coming back to the table wanting to deal, but several high-powered writers going to their guild saying they were going FiCore in a week…settle the strike or we are crossing the line. The strike was settled 72 hours later.

The studios, nets and producers can handle a strike, but five months down the road, after small businesses shut down, restaurants close, and people start moving families out of their houses…where will we all be.

The writers are right in their demands, however the reality is a harsh one for everyone involved.

God Bless and good luck to all if there is a lockout/strike.

tom r. • on Nov 1, 2007 6:35 pm

A strike will only work if IATSE and Teamster members voluntarily refuse to cross picket lines. That way, all those stockpiled primetime TV scripts
will be useless and every production will shut down ASAP.

Jimmy • on Nov 1, 2007 6:56 pm

I hope this gets out to the mainstream press.

These are simply not unreasonable demands.

The Hyphen • on Nov 1, 2007 7:23 pm

I find it horrible that it is not a given all unions will respect the picket lines. This is how the studios will win. If directors, editors, writers and anyone else creative shared the same union, we would never need to strike, the mere threat of that mass strike would force them to talk to us about new media rather than say we won’t even talk about. The time to strike is now. They had months to make a move and the studios played hard ball. So time to play it right back. While there is a strike

I hope we consider joining the unions and sharing our power together rather than just sharing signs and walking on the side walk together. I refuse to give up my idyllic vision for us. As younger person in this industry who directs, composes music, acts, edits, writes and can but does not like to operate his camera and produce unless need be, I really hope the one union idea starts to look more appealing.

Making a movie is collaborative process no one can do it all alone, we need each other, this extends to this moment.

Dave • on Nov 1, 2007 7:39 pm

I find it all very interesting. I’m a software developer (or software writer if you prefer). I work for a good company, and I’m paid a fair wage for my time. I have no claim whatsoever with the software that I write for my company, they are free to use it in whatever way they see fit to earn the company profit. If I feel that my company is being unfair, I’m free to go work somewhere else. That’s the way a free market society works, I really don’t understand you writers thinking that you have claim to material that you are PAID to create. The studios should be free to use that material however they see fit, they own it. They are the ones taking the risk and putting the money up front for your salaries so you can write your stories. If your script bombs, do they have the right to withhold your salary for the time you spent writing that piece? As has been said before, the time for unions is over, this is a free market and the market should decide. I truly do feel sorry though for the middle and low tier writers who are going to be hurt by this needless strike, you and your families will be in my thoughts.

Dave

Jimmy • on Nov 1, 2007 7:42 pm

I agree Hyphen. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Form an Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Guilds that negotiates with the AMPTP for every contract.

T • on Nov 1, 2007 7:57 pm

Dave,

I see your point, but I grew up in Silicon Valley, I am 30 now and when I was a kid my mom worked for ATARI when it was HUGE and before Warner Bros bought it. She said unions came into town and tried to set up shop, but since everyone was so well paid and respected by their companies, unions could never take hold in Silicon Valley.

Silicon Valley is not Hollywood. SV is awesome and people for the most part are cool and treat each other well, this is not Hollywood. Writers who give birth to 99.9% of the projects are abused by their employers and agents. It’s not fair to say after I write it, that’s the end. Cause that’s not how it works and that’s not how the contracts are made. It’s not just about selling something to them and trying to impose rules on what they can do with it. It’s about working conditions, getting your rightful credit and respect.

So if studios were fair and writers were treated great and paid well, we would have no need for a union and only use agents. That is not reality, hence unions.

Hooper • on Nov 1, 2007 8:07 pm

So does SAG joining the picket lines mean they will walkout? Or does it just mean in their off time they will join the picketing? I work for one of the big studio’s in the IT department and know that my job will be one of the first to go if all production is shutdown. I just need to know if I should be looking for a new job tonight.

God, I can’t afford this!!! I feel for the WGA and their plight. I think they are being reasonable for the most part, but I am just one of the collateral damages that will result from this.

T • on Nov 1, 2007 8:18 pm

Dave —
Just curious: Does your employer, by any chance, give you stock options?

john • on Nov 1, 2007 8:24 pm

In response to Dave- I have this arguement with a friend of mine who’s not in the business all the time. He agrees with the famous Lew Wasserman quote that “everytime I flush my toilet, the plumber doesn’t get paid.” I respond that if you invented a valve to allow the toilet to get flushed, you’d get paid everytime one was sold. (I love comparing writing to the workings of a john.) Secondly, if you invented Guitar Hero and you aren’t getting a piece of the profits, you’re an idiot. Thirdly, as you can say so cavalierly “If I feel that my company is being unfair, I’m free to go work somewhere else.” Well, sir, it doesn’t work that way in this business. There aren’t any adds on craigslist for network writers. And you fail to take into account spec scripts which, believe it or not, do get produced from time to time, and for which the writer receives no salary, only the hope he can sell it.
The problem is corporations beholden to shareholders, thus having no long term view. How much money has “Desperate Housewives” made for ABC and Universal, where they rent the soundstages and backlot? How much did Marc Cherry receive from residuals that kept him solvent during his well documented hard times? If studios lose young talents to this strike, who will write the hits a decade from now?

METinker • on Nov 1, 2007 8:25 pm

I am a working feature writer. I grew up in Palo Alto and many of my friends are in the software business. It’s a totally different business model. In fact, the majority of my friends who work in the computer industry get stock and stock options for the companies they work for. If Film and TV writers were given stock in the parent companies for which they do work, or even options to buy, I think things might be different. But as we know, only the big producers and top execs get stock and they don’t want to share in the success of their companies with their employees, hence, the divide. Let’s be strong, WRITERS, our cause is just.

ben Gardner • on Nov 1, 2007 8:30 pm

Video Game Dave-
I am a very well paid screenwriter, the type that gets blamed for making movies so expensive. Do you know why I am paid so much? Because it is cheaper for the studios to pay me alot of money than to cut me in as a gross player. That’s how much money we’re talking about. I have offered to work for wga scale on multiple projects for a .5 % ownership stake; my thinking being we will share the risk, share the reward. Biz affairs execs tell me they will never be allowed to make this deal, they would rather pay millions of dollars up front than share tens of million down the road. With the exception of video games and Hollywood, the writer owns the material in every other genre (songwriting, books, plays, musicals…). We are asking for a tiny fraction of that ownership. An insignificant noncontrolling share. Do you see the disconnect? The studio argument is stands on feet of clay.

Jimmy • on Nov 1, 2007 8:53 pm

Dave, I can understand why you’re comparing film and television writers to your own experience. That makes sense. This concept confused me for a while as well.

But there is a unique part of writing for entertainment that is a little different than your situation.

For you at a software company, you are writing code for software that was developed by that company. They own the trademark or patent on the software. You are being hired to build it.

In a movie, the writers are the “original owners.” Every movie starts with a script. Sometimes the idea is originally all theirs, sometimes it comes from another idea, and sometimes it comes from selling a pitch about the idea. But even if the idea comes from the studio, it’s not a complete, executable idea until there’s a script. And that’s what the writer creates.

The writers are the ones who come up with the idea for the “software”. So, in your analogy, they actually start off as more like the owners of the company, their movie, not the employees.

Now, what they do with their great idea is then sell part of their ownership writes to an investor. A studio, or a network, for instance. Sometimes that deal was arranged in advance, sometimes it wasn’t.

That investor’s money and distribution abilities have a certain value. And so does the original idea they will invest in and try to sell.

So how do these partners decide the value of each contribution?

They negotiate.

The impasse right now is that writers and producers cannot agree on the value of their contributions at a minimum level. Writers think it’s higher than what the producers think.

And since writers are more correctly compared to “part owners” of the movie, there is an issue with the value of the product being reproduced, and resold.

I never hear anyone arguing that if an author sells more books that they should not get paid more. That was their idea. If it sells a lot, why wouldn’t they earn more? Same with songwriters. They earn more for a hit than they do for a dud.

And paying the “original owners” a fee to reproduce and resell their idea is a cost of production. You pay the people that make the software box right? You pay the people that make the manuals and disks, right? And if the software idea was licenced from another party, you pay that person for the copy of the software that goes on that disk.

But you’re also right that the people investing the money are putting out the biggest risk and should receive the biggest return.

Writers know that. But they have to fight for the value of their contribution as well through negotiations of contracts.

That’s why the DVD residual demand is .6 percent. The company gets to use 99.4 percent for it’s other expenses. Is that unfair?

For internet re-use of that which the writer is “part owner”, 2.5 percent for those downloads that are paid for and have ads (like television). Not the free ones. They’re not asking to get money if their partner isn’t. So, 97.5 percent stays with the company for their other expenses.

By the way, the “part owner” also gives up their ownership when the idea is bought. They give up their copyright. Playwrights and book author’s don’t. And that value is also added into the minimums.

Unfair?

So Dave, develop some original software that is your idea. Find an investor who licenses the idea and invests to get it produced and sell it. See what deal you get on upfront fees and residuals.

I bet it will be better than what writers currently get when they write a movie.

Fred • on Nov 1, 2007 8:54 pm

2000 out of 12000 members?

Palmer • on Nov 1, 2007 9:24 pm

To The Hyphen re IATSE” it’s my understanding that there is a “no strike” clause in their deal and that they are unable to strike while their contract is still in force. It’s not that they aren’t respecting picket lines, it’s that they deal they negotiated previously with producers specifically forbids them from doing so.

Webber • on Nov 1, 2007 9:28 pm

There was no Internet during the last writers strike. Should be interesting…

Scott • on Nov 1, 2007 9:31 pm

Dave,

The truth is, in today’s marketplace, screenwriters very often write scripts on spec, creating them on their own time and their own dime. Unlike 50 years ago, screenwriters are no longer employed under long-term studio contracts, but are, rather, as a group, freelancers, working job to job. When writers are hired for rewriting or adaptation assignments, it is usually on a per-project basis too.

Silicon Valley provides a poor basis for comparison, as the environment up there lends itself far more readily to start-ups and marketplace innovators. The sheer number of competing firms leads to generous salaries and profit sharing.

In Hollywood, the situation is quite different. The distribution channels have become increasingly centralized, falling under the control of multi-nationals with deep pockets. This has in turn swung the balance of power heavily in favor of the studios and their corporate parents. While I can understand questioning the specific methods of the WGA and other entertainment unions, I whole-heartedly disagree that they have grown irrelevant. In fact, given the current market dynamics, one could certainly argue that they have never been more necessary.

Those of us who are not in the top percentile of WGA wage earners make little more than an average income, and we work with little or no job security – that is, if we are lucky enough to make any money at all. The Guild allows us to put away a little into a pension, and it allows us to earn health coverage. We work long hours, and we have to continually fight for a level of workplace respect that our counterparts in other industries take for granted.

We write because it’s what we love to do. The last thing most of us want is a strike. The labor unrest has already has cost me dearly, and I know I’m not alone. We can only hope cooler heads prevail and limit further damages.

Pissed Off • on Nov 1, 2007 9:34 pm

I agree with Tom r. that this will not work unless the Teamsters and IATSE join forces to shut down production. The studios have deep pockets and will be fine, as long as they can continue shooting the scripts they already have.

This really sucks. We (my family) may very well not make it more than a month or two before we either have to declare bankruptcy or move in with relatives. We had gone “all-in” on a successful writing career here in Hollywood. And we were succeeding, too – until this strike. Basically, we’re ruined financially, and I’m waiting for the shock to wear off. I know thousands of others will face similar fates.

StudioAsst&AspiringWriter • on Nov 1, 2007 9:39 pm

Studios are in serious trouble and they know it. Every writer in town has been rushing to get material in before deadlines and their work has suffered as a result. Television studios especially are hurting right now as this comes in the middle of development season and no studio has anything that will be a pilot without rewriting.

The greatest threat to the strike is the few rich showrunning hyphenates who willingly want to violate A-H and have nothing to gain by striking with seven figure deals that mean the pennies from residuals really are pennies. Any writer who thinks of themselves as a producer first and writer second should use the pseudonym Benedict Arnold.

Twenty-five year-old residual packages based on an unknown and expensive home distribution system called VHS does not hold up to the current digital on demand market for new content. This industry needs satisfied creators for that content, and it starts with writers. Unfortunately, we’re all about to find that out the hard way.

Jack • on Nov 1, 2007 10:24 pm

I think the writers are making a mistake by going on strike right now. They should have waited for SAG’s contract to expire and then go on a strike considering SAG has more influence and could have gotten them a better deal. Networks are stil going o have enough original stuff to last them till february. By that time the writers will start to run out of gas. A strike in June with the SAG would have been more beneficial as it would have completely shut down production and threatened the 2008 season.

One question: Does your company pay you per game? Or are you paid a salary? My suspicion is it’s the latter. Well, that’s not the way it works for writers. We’re paid project to project, gig to gig. We depend on residuals to support us in between projects, in between gigs. Your situation does not apply to ours.

And, by the way, I know whereof I speak. I’m a professional writer who, in addition to writing for other media, have written four videogames.

Best,
Marc Guggenheim

Jessy S. • on Nov 1, 2007 11:53 pm

Marc, I checked out your website and I love the latest release. Congrats.

Anyway I am writing in response to Jack’s comment at 10:24 PM. I just would like to say that Jack’s comment is irrational at best because the WGA would lose the leverage that it has now with the development season in full swing. Besides the studios and networks have thought that they would have time to rush projects. Not so with a strike date set for Monday at the latest.

Besides the actors union said that they would honor the strike along with the Teamsters. Come Monday, they might not have any choice because the AMPTP could decide the dissolve the contracts of actors, directors, and editors, and declare a lockout. I do realize that the legal system would then get involved, but the AMPTP, studios, and networks would be done and would have to give into creative’s demands.

I for one am looking forward to this strike because writers would benefit from all the information that they can produce. And that does include writers giving information via the picket lines and posting it on sites like You Tube. The WGA could even use sites to urge the public to totally boycott movie theaters this fall/holiday season, which would cause the studio revenue to collapse. Plus, if the only shows that people are watching start and end with sports, that is even better. Good Luck in making the AMPTP, studios, and networks crumble.